Smithsonian Handbooks: Flags (Smithsonian Handbooks)

Rating:
Summary: A colorful and fun reference work
Review: "Flags" is a Smithsonian Handbook that covers the national flags of the world. The bulk of the book consists of country-by-country entries. Each entry includes a full color illustration of the national flag along with text detailing the history and symbolic significance of each flag. The individual entries also contain various other visuals, such as national coats-of-arms, presidential flags, etc.

Other features of the book are sections explaining the parts of a flag and various flag terminology. Particularly fascinating is the large number of subnational flags that are depicted and explained in the book. Among these are the flags of Canadian provinces, U.S. states, French overseas territories, Spanish regions, Russian republics, and Malaysian states. I found many of these subnational flags really visually striking--from the fairy-tale like elements of the Swiss canton flags to the bold colors and geometric designs of the Brazilian state flags, and beyond. There is also section on the flags of international organizations such as the Arab League and the United Nations.

My only complaint about this fine book is that the descriptive text around the pictures of many of the national flags has lines pointing from the text onto the drawing, unnecessarily marring the illustrations. This descriptive text would have been just as effective without these distracting lines. That complaint aside, this book is a richly informative and visually exciting reference work--it's a book you can turn to again and again.

Rating:
Summary: A colorful and fun reference work
Review: "Flags" is a Smithsonian Handbook that covers the national flags of the world. The bulk of the book consists of country-by-country entries. Each entry includes a full color illustration of the national flag along with text detailing the history and symbolic significance of each flag. The individual entries also contain various other visuals, such as national coats-of-arms, presidential flags, etc.

Other features of the book are sections explaining the parts of a flag and various flag terminology. Particularly fascinating is the large number of subnational flags that are depicted and explained in the book. Among these are the flags of Canadian provinces, U.S. states, French overseas territories, Spanish regions, Russian republics, and Malaysian states. I found many of these subnational flags really visually striking--from the fairy-tale like elements of the Swiss canton flags to the bold colors and geometric designs of the Brazilian state flags, and beyond. There is also section on the flags of international organizations such as the Arab League and the United Nations.

My only complaint about this fine book is that the descriptive text around the pictures of many of the national flags has lines pointing from the text onto the drawing, unnecessarily marring the illustrations. This descriptive text would have been just as effective without these distracting lines. That complaint aside, this book is a richly informative and visually exciting reference work--it's a book you can turn to again and again.

Rating:
Summary: Flags
Review: This book is perhaps the most up-to-date authority of the flags nation's fly today. It is richly colored and provides good analysis of what the flags consist of. It has the flags of the world, and many individual states or provinces within the several countries. Its organizational layout is a bit perflexing at times, but the flags are there. This book should remain the standard on the topic until flags change (which is about every three months or so).